No More Casting Calls as a Foundry Plans to Close

By BENJAMIN GENOCCHIO

Published: May 9, 2004

THE Johnson Atelier, the foundry and school in Hamilton Township that has made sculptures for George Segal, Joel Shapiro, Julian Schnabel and Charles Ray, among other well-known artists, is closing next month. It was one of the largest art foundries in the world, turning over millions of dollars in business every year.

J. Seward Johnson, a sculptor and heir to the Johnson & Johnson health-care products empire, established the atelier in 1974 with his own money and supported it through the years with occasional grants. Mr. Johnson, who is 73, said in a telephone interview from his home in Key West, Fla., that he decided to close the atelier because it was no longer financially viable.

The foundry and school, which trained apprentices in casting, stone carving and sculpture fabrication, were underwritten by an annual grant of around $2 million from the Atlantic Foundation, a philanthropic organization established by Mr. Johnson's father. But to help defray costs, the foundry was expected to raise revenue by taking on outside business, Mr. Johnson said. In reality, however, about half of the atelier's gross income came from Mr. Johnson's commissions to fabricate his own sculptures, three-dimensional versions of Impressionist paintings.

''Partly the problems at the atelier were my fault,'' Mr. Johnson said, ''for I set the place up with the ethos of a school, which was really wonderful, but it also needed to be a business. They had quite a lot of outside work, just not enough on a constant basis to justify the equipment and huge overhead from the school, studios and all the other facilities there. The result was that the place ended up a white elephant, eventually falling in on itself.''

The decision to close the atelier was prompted by events last year, Mr. Johnson said. In the middle of the year, he received a quotation of $112,000 from the foundry for the fabrication of a bronze sculpture of a mother, child and rabbit. The price seemed high, so he bid out about half the total job to 22 other foundries all over the country. He found the median price to be 40 percent of what the atelier was charging him for the same work. The sculpture was eventually cast and produced at a nearby foundry for a cost of $27,000.

Charles Haude, who became the atelier's executive director in mid-2003, confirms the cost discrepancies.

''The first thing I did when I was hired was to send out a series of bid packages for the fabrication of Mr. Johnson's sculptures to foundries nationwide,'' he said. ''I found that we could get the same work, of comparable quality, for a lot less. Sometimes, I could get the casting for half the cost.''

Carl Schafer, chairman of the atelier's board, agreed that the charges for Mr. Johnson's sculptures were often above market price. ''It is true some of the art foundries were able to beat us on price,'' he said. ''Part of it was because we were a school, and so had other costs that made us uncompetitive in the marketplace.''

Former officials of the foundry declined to comment for this article.

In December, Sculpture Foundation, a philanthropic umbrella body that oversees Mr. Johnson's sculptures, decided it could no longer have his work made at the atelier. Mr. Johnson sits on the foundation board.

''We had been aware for a few years that the costs for casting Mr. Johnson's pieces were rising, and we worked with the foundry to find ways to mitigate the increases,'' said Paula Stoeke, director of the foundation. ''But the cost of operating the atelier became too expensive to be competitive with other foundries' casting bids. Thus the board made a decision that it was no longer possible to continue to essentially fund the overhead through paying higher than standard fees for casting.''

A skeleton staff was kept on at the atelier to complete outstanding commissions by artists. Mr. Haude expects to finish up sometime next month.

The closing of the atelier is provoking much sadness among artists who have used it. Ms. Smith, a well-known New York City artist, cast many sculptures at the foundry, among them a series of bronze figures included in her last exhibition at the Pace Wildenstein Gallery in Chelsea, in 2002. She described the closing as ''a tragic loss,'' adding, ''People went there from all over the world to study, and many of the graduates have gone on to do important things in the art world here, and in other places.''

Mr. Haude said he had received hundreds of telephone calls and letters from people all over the world who have been involved with the atelier over the past 30 years.

Mr. Johnson said he hoped to revitalize the organization in a different form. John S. Johnson, his son, is heading a committee financed by another Johnson foundation that is working on ideas to do that. The committee is expected to deliver its recommendations by the end of the year.

''We want this new institution to be a living, evolving entity, combining art production, art exhibitions, and also, possibly, some kind of teaching mission,'' Mr. Johnson said. ''But if the atelier is to continue, then it has to be self-sustaining.''

Photos: ELEMENTAL SCHOOL -- The Johnson Atelier cast sculptures, and let apprentices learn. The work ranges from applying finishing touches, above and right, and pouring aluminum into molds, left. (Photographs by Nancy Wegard for The New York Times)